The Pre-Flight Briefing

Activity 2B: Inside the KAO

Objective

To construct a 1/80th scale model of the interior of the KAO, or
lay out a full-scale mock-up in your classroom or auditorium.

Ask if any students have flown in an airplane or seen the passenger
section of an airplane in a movie. Give students time to describe how
it looked. Then ask how how that kind of airplane would have to be modified
to hold a large telescope.

Explain that this activity introduces the interior of the KAO. The "electronic
field trip" will be linking students on the ground to astronomers
and aircrew, and to a teacher and a high school student, working in this
area.

Materials

copy of activity 2B, page 35

ruler

measuring tape

large area at least 50 feet by 8 feet

chairs and tables

Procedure Distribute the activity sheet to students. Ask them
to look over the floor plan and imagine how big the inside of the airplane
really is. Then tell them that the class is going to make a full-size
mock-up to see just how crowded conditions are for the astronomers and
aircrew up there in the KAO. If your room is too short for the whole cabin,
create just the mid-section, where the astronomers operate their equipment
and the Mission Director and Telescope Operator sit--the area shown in
the photograph on this page.

Assign different students or groups to calculate the sizes of different
sections of the cabin. Each area or item should be measured with a tape-measure
or ruler. The size is multiplied by 80 to calculate the real size. Once
all the dimensions are known, students can create the full-scale mock-up
using classroom furniture.

Explain to students that designers make scale models to show how a new
aircraft or building will look. Assign students to read the sidebars from
Telescope Operator Juan Rivera on-line or in this Guide, or the comments
from Mission Director Wendy Whiting about what it's like to fly on the
KAO.

NASA is currently planing the follow-on aircraft to the KAO, known as
SOFIA, for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Students
will see graphics and wind-tunnel tests in the videos. There's additional
background in this Guide and on-line. Have them research what will be
the same and different between the KAO and SOFIA, and explain.

Interdisciplinary Connection

Scale modeling is a fundamental skill in science, mathematics, and engineering.
Encourage students to make either the 1/80th scale model or collaborate
in the full-size mock-up.

If you have built the mock-up, you may find it interesting to have students
break into groups, study specific short sections of the videos (such as
when the KAO team "uncage" the telescope and begin observation,
or move from one astronomical target to another), and write their own
scripts for a re-enactment of the activity in the mock-up. If they've
seen Apollo 13, they might enjoy being part of a science and technology
team, consciously striving to work together towards a goal. Have them
check out the Mission Glossary for some of the terms they might need to
use. If there's a Challenger Center close-by, consider a trip: many stage
simulations of missions to Comet Halley, which was also studied by the
KAO.

KAO Connection

Discuss with students what they think it would be like to do astronomy
inside the KAO. Do they think it would be crowded? From the photo on the
page, what else is it? (It's very noisy--notice everyone wearing head
sets!) They should pick up a lot more anecdotal information from the videos,
and on-line from the Field Journals to be found there.

Q&A

QUESTION: What are the washrooms like on KAO? Is it just like
going to the washroom on a regular plane?

ANSWER: from Jesse Bregman, Astrophysicist, NASA Ames

There is one washroom on the KAO which is similar to the ones on a regular
airplane. It is not quite as fancy as on a commercial plane, but it is
just as small.

Inside the KAO

The diagram shows the interior of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Note
the telescope mounted between the cockpit area and the astronomer P.I. (principal
investigator) areas.

In this floor plan,

1 inch = 80 inches or 1 cm = 80 cm.

The 36 inch wide telescope mirror is 0.45 inch wide in the drawing.

To make a full-scale mock-up of the KAO cabin, measure all of the
areas in the floor plan. Multiply each area by 80. Then layout the full-scale
version in a large open area.

You can use real chairs for cabin furniture in your mock-up.

For a three-dimensional model, cut out this floor plan and place
it inside a paper towel tube. Cut a hole for the telescope in the side
of the tube. Mark the locations of doors on the outside of the tube.

These researchers are working at the telescope controls. The photograph
is looking back from the telescope area toward the rear of the plane.